Vintage Burleigh Ware Cream and Black Ceramic Pitcher with Atomic Starburst Design

At 13 cm tall, this Burleigh Ware cream and black ceramic pitcher with its atomic starburst decoration is the smallest piece in the starburst trio, compact and characterful, the bold two-tone palette of cream exterior and contrasting black interior giving the mid-century modern starburst motif a graphic clarity that makes the piece immediately readable as a product of its era.

Made by Burgess and Leigh of Burslem, Staffordshire, this pitcher is part of a series of Burleigh Ware pieces decorated with the atomic starburst motif, a design that captures the optimistic, forward-looking spirit of mid-century modern design in its most direct form. The starburst, with its radiating lines and central burst, was one of the defining decorative motifs of the 1950s and 1960s, appearing across furniture, textiles, ceramics, and graphic design in the years following the Second World War, and Burleigh Ware's application of the motif to its earthenware pitchers and jugs gives these pieces a period character that is immediately recognisable to collectors of mid-century decorative arts. The cream exterior and black interior, a colour combination that appears across the starburst series, gives the pieces a bold graphic quality suited to the mid-century modern aesthetic. The piece is in good condition throughout.

• Maker: Burleigh Ware (Burgess and Leigh), Burslem, England
• Dimensions: 13 cm (H) x 12 cm (W)
• Condition: Good
• Features: Cream exterior, black interior, atomic starburst decoration, compact pitcher form
• Period: 20th century
• SKU: CBD-0019

A distinctive piece of mid-century English pottery. Pairs naturally with the starburst jug (CBD-0020) and the starburst ewer (CBD-0021) to complete the Burleigh Ware Atomic grouping in the Burleigh Ware collection.